Synthesis, biological evaluation and docking studies of 1,2,4-oxadiazole linked 5-fluorouracil derivatives as anticancer agents

BACKGROUND: 1,2,4-oxadiazole derivatives exhibited significant anti-cancer activity when they were evaluated, against human cancer cell lines. They also showed anti-inflammatory, analgesic, diabetic, immunosuppressive, α,β(3)-receptor antagonist, antimicrobial, anti-helminthic, histamine-H3 and antiparasitic properties. A pyrimidine analog, 5 fluoro-uracil is a chemotherapeutic drug used for treating multiple solid malignant tumors. But its application is limited, as it has side effects like low bioavailability and high toxicity. Molecular docking is an exemplary tool, helps in identifying target and designing a drug containing high bio-availability and minimum toxicity. RESULTS: A set of 1,2,4-oxadiazole linked 5-fluoruracil derivatives (7a–j) were synthesized and their structures were confirmed by (1)HNMR, (13)CNMR and Mass spectral analysis. Further, these compounds were investigated for their anticancer activity towards a panel of four human cancer cell lines such as (MCF-7, MDA MB-231), lung cancer (A549) and prostate cancer (DU-145) by using MTT method. Among them, compounds 7a, 7b, 7c, 7d and 7i demonstrated more promising anticancer activity than standard. CONCLUSION: Synthesized derivatives (7a–j) of 1,2,4-oxadiazole linked 5-fluorouracil and investigated for their anticancer activity towards a panel of four human cancer cell lines. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13065-021-00757-y.